A printer implements printing(printer jobs) of the data received from personal computers and printing(copier jobs) of the data scanned through a copier functional device. When a user approaches the printer, a user identifying portion identifies the ID number(user name) of this user. If a printer job of this user name has been registered in the management memory of the printer, it is determined whether the printer job of this user name is `allowed` to make an interrupt and whether the priority of this printer job is higher than that of the copier job. After confirmation of these facts, the printer job of this user name is started by making an interrupt.

A printer control system which enables the using application program to automatically selectively alter printer default parameters, to automatically selectively delete previously downloaded fonts and macros, and to enable the printer to operate from one of several datastream formats. The system allows the printer to initialize default parameters for a succeeding job during the printing of a current job as long as the datastream format is unchanged, and allows the deletion of downloaded fonts as long as they are not needed for the current or future pages being printed for the current job.

For a system such as a combinational weighing system that requires a large number of parameters to be set for its operation, groups of parameters which frequently assume the same sets of values are identified and each of such sets is assigned a reservation number. Memory space for storing values assumed by the parameters can be reduced if these values are grouped by such frequently occurring combinations and the user specifies a single reservation number instead of specifying values of the individual parameters. Selection of operating condition is effected by an input device with a touch screen. For some parameters, currently set values are displayed as a bar graph and a user can set or reset a value directly on the screen by moving a cursor on the bar graph.

A document producing apparatus comprises an input unit for inputting descriptive contents such as characters or figures which contstruct a document and a format which defines a sheet size of a paper sheet used, a sheet direction of portrait or landscape in which the sheet is to be used, and a layout of the descriptive contents in each page, a storage unit for storing therein the descriptive contents and the format inputted from the input unit, a display unit for selectively displaying the contents stored in the storage unit, and an in-document layout editing unit for displaying on the display unit a layout of a plurality of pages forming the document so that page information of the respective pages are partitioned in due order from a leading page and for every predetermined number of pages and are arranged in one display image, the page information including at least the sheet size and the sheet direction stored in the storage unit. The apparatus may further comprise a page editing unit for performing the editing for a desired page while referring to a display image displayed on the display unit.

In a data processing system capable of responding to operator entered format parameter values the capability is provided for compactly storing directives for temporary formatting changes within text data. When temporary formatting directives are specified, the current values of the formatting parameters to be changed are stored, which enables their immediate and automatic return when the need for the temporary formatting change has passed. This is accomplished by the use of the following three new controls which are used within the text data stream: (a) the Begin Temporary Format Change, (b) the End Temporary Format Change, and (c) the Return to Previous Format. The first two of these controls are used to bracket the format change which is to take place and to identify that the format change contained therein is to be considered temporary so that the formatting states for the parameters to be changed can be remembered. The Return to Previous Format control is used to signify that the temporary format change is over and that the original formatting states whose values were stored in accordance with the Begin/End Temporary Format Change pair, are to be restored.